Apparatus for closing boxes



Aug. 17, 1937. H KONDOLF 2,090,399

APPARATUS FOR CLOSING BOXES Filed July 9, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l Yv N- mQ l Q \g &

' INVENTOR ATTORN EY Aug. 17, 1937. H. KONDOLF APPARATUS'FOR CLOSINGBOXES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 9, 1934 Lxfi ATTORNEY Patented Aug.17, 1937 Le it-399 PATENT QFFEQ APPARATUS FOR CLOSING BOXES HenryKondolf, New York, N. Y., assignor to Southern Kraft Corporation, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application July 9, 1934, SerialNo. 734,288

7 Claims.

My present invention relates to a method and apparatus for packing andclosing boxes of the bottom loading type, such, for instance, asdisclosed in my Patents No. 2,019,538, issued Nov. 5,

1935, and No. 2,031,111, issued Feb. 18, 1936, re-

spectively. Other spectific boxes of the same general type may be packedand closed by my machine, but the aforementioned patent discloses onespecific box for which the machine is particularly adapted.

An object of my invention is to devise a machine in which the operatormay be entirely free to arrange the contents of the box in a suitableand pleasing manner-by reason of the closing mechanism being entirelyautomatic in its operation. This object is advantageous in connectionwith the packing of this type of box inasmuch as the primary purpose,novelty and utility of the box is in presenting a more uniform and 0pleasing arrangement of fruit, berries, vegetables and othercommodities. This particular box, as well as others of a similar nature,is formed from a unitary blank by a tray-folding operation; that is thecenter panel of a blank is provided with side and end flaps which arefolded up into a tray, one of the sidewalls being provided with anattached bottom lid adapted to form a complete enclosure. The sides ofthe tray are preferably inclined toward each other so that the 0 centerpanel is slightly larger than the open end of the tray. The center panelmay be provided with an easily detachable portion which may be removedin order that the contents of the box may be viewed by the purchaser.This removable portion is smaller than the center panel so that theedges of the panel will retain the contents in place, particularly ininstances where large fruit and vegetables are being packed. Whensmaller fruits and vegetables are being packed the removable portion maybe underlaid by a sheet of transparent material adhered to the rim ofthe center panel. Other details, objects and advantages of the box willbe apparent from an inspection of the aforementioned patent. This box isdesigned to be loaded from the bottom and an object of my invention isto enable such loading to take place in a continuous process.

A further object of my invention is to devise O a machine whereinbottom-loading boxes are automatically closed and the closing paneluniformly fastened in closed position. 7

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from thefollowing speci fication, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout. In thedrawings:

Fig. l is a top plan View of a machine embodying the foregoingprinciples;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken along line 2 2 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a box of the type adapted to be closedby the specific mechanism set forth herein, looking at the bottom of thebox; V

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section taken along line 4- 1 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section taken along line 55 of Fig. 1and showing the box in opened position as it appears during theplac-:'.-: ing of. the contents within the box;

Fig. 6 is a similar vertical transverse section taken along line 5-5 ofFig. 1 and showing the beginning of the closing operation; and

Fig. 7 is a similar vertical transverse section taken along line 1-1 ofFig. 1 and showing the box in final closed position just prior to thepresentation thereof to a fastening mechanism, such as set forth in Fig.4.

Referring to Figs. 1. and 2 the numeral It represents a suitableconveyor upon which commodities to be packed are brought before anoperator positioned adjacent the conveyor. The conveyor is preferably atone side of and slightly above the box conveyor H upon which the boxesare placed in inverted position. A number of boxes 52 are shown inposition on the conveyor and being fed forward by cleats 13 betweenguides 14. The boxes are supplied to the box conveyor l i by a supplyconveyor I5 from which they are removed by the cleats i3 on conveyor 8i. The supply conveyor 55 may be operated at a greater speed than theconveyor H so as to make certain that a continuous supply of boxes willbe brought into position to be removed by. the cleats i3 and, being asmooth belt conveyor, it will merely slide under the boxes if too manyare brought to the loading table il The conveyor I i is passed about afree roll it atone end of the loading table I? and a driving roll I8, atthe opposite end of the loading table. The table I lis supported onsuitable legs within pairs of which may be mounted the bearings forrolls 16 and i8.

The conveyor H is preferably driven-through intermittently operatingmechanism of suitable construction, in this instance comprising a Genevagearing driven by a motor l9 through a belt 20 and pulley 2!. The pulley2! is fixed to a shaft 22 mounted in a suitable standard 23 and its freeend carries a Geneva drive member 24 on the surface of which is mountedthe usual driving pin 25. The shaft of drive roll l8. carries the usualGeneva star wheel 26 with which the pin 25 cooperates to step theconveyor forward intermittently a distance substantially equal to thedistance between box centers at each step. The member 24 carries theusual locking flange 21 to lock the Geneva star wheel in place aftereach progressive movement thereof. Other suitable may be employed; theforegoing being merely a simple form having the desired characteristics.

At the end of the table II there is a suitable conveyor 28 adapted tocarry away the closed boxes, being preferably driven at a greater speedin order to separate adjacent boxes. It will be apparent from aninspection of the drawings that the boxes are progressed in uniformsteps through the operating stations and are continuously conveyed awayfrom the machine as they emerge from the operating table. Each box isadjacent the commodity conveyor ID for a plurality of steps, the timeelapsing being sufficient to enable an operator to completely andcarefully fill each box. The number of steps elapsing from the time thata box first comes to' position adjacent the operator until the box movesinto the closing mechanism hereafter described may be a variable numberdepending upon the type of commodity and the time re-' quired tocompletely and carefully pack thev box. In order to fully set forth theoperation of the closing mechanisma brief description of the box shownin Fig. 3 is required. The box comprises a tray-folded box having a top30 which, in the packing position, is lowermost or adjacent the conveyorThe sides of the box are formed by flaps 3| which are folded upwardabout the top portion 30 and are fastened together to form a tray havinga filling opening of slightly smaller dimensions than the top portion30. The corners of the tray are cut away to form ventilation openingsand also to make possible automatic closing as will appear hereafter.One side wall of the tray has a flap 32 affixed thereto along the scoreline 33 and is formed with score lines 34 and 35 parallel tothe scoreline 33. The flap 32 thus consists of a major portion of substantiallythe area of the bottom opening of the box and narrow portions atopposite sides of the major portion. By folding the narrow portionsinwardly the bottom of the box is-thus raised with respect to its bottomedge thereby placing the contents under slight pressure for purposesfully set forth in the aforementioned patent. In Fig. 5 a box is seen inits open or filling position with the flap 32 extending up ward and thetop portion 30 resting on the conveyor The guides M are shown as havinga slight inclination toward each other to abut closely the sloping sidewalls 3| of the box and prevent tipping thereof during the fasteningoperation.

After a box is filled the bottom panel is positioned within the bottomopening to'close the same. For this purpose a lid closing cam 40 isfastened .on the upper edges of the guides l4 and preferably comprises aplate having a rolled forward, edge set atan acute angle to thedirection of travel of the boxes, the foremost tip of the cam beingadjacent the path of travel of the scoreline 33. The upstanding lid orbottom panel 32 is forced downwardly by the rolled edge of the cam 40 asthe box is conveyed there intermittently operating mechanisms:

under by the conveyor I. Since the total length of the lid 32 is greaterthan the width of the bottom opening means are provided to bend the lidalong the score lines 34 and 35 comprising a folding member 4| adjacentone guide l4 and a folding member 42 adjacent the opposite guide I4. Themember 4| projects downward below the bottom edge of the panels 3| andforces the bottom lid to bend along score line 34, the corners of theside walls 3| being cut away to allow the member clearance. The member4| is in advance of the member 42 so that the bottom panel is first bentinward along score line 34 thereby drawing the end edge of the bottomlid toward the side panel 3| adjacent thereto. During this time thebottom lid 32 is continually being folded inward by the lid closing cam40,

as seen in Fig. 6. In Fig. '7 the lid 32 has been completely forced intoposition and the cam 40 has caused the bottom lid to bend along thescore line 35, thereby positioning the narrow end portion of the lid 32parallel to and adjacent the lower edge of the side wall 3|. Member 42is preferably positioned at a slight angle to the guides l4 so that thecross-sectional area of the channel therebetween decreases as the boxprogresses therealong, and member 4| preferably is relieved away fromits corresponding guide 14 as the box progresses therealong so that, asthe box moves from the position of Fig. 7 to'the position of Fig. 4, theend of the bottom'lid 32 is brought into close fitting contact with thecorresponding side wall 3|.

The action of the foregoing mechanism is as follows: The bottom lid isfirst generally forced to bend along the line 33 and tends to assume aparallel relation with the top panel 30. Before complete parallelism isreached the bottom lid j is bent along line 34 to form a reentrantportion.

line 34 is allowed some freedom of movement and the narrow lip formed byscore line 35 is brought into close proximity with the opposite sidewall. It will be appreciated that the box is, during this time, filledwith some commodity so that the bottom lid will not be forced beyond theproper closing position and will be under a slight pressure from withinso that the end of the lid 32 tends to remain adjacent the lower edge ofthe side wall 3|.

A primary advantage of my method and appa ratus lies in obtaininguniformity of the package eventually resulting therefrom. Although thebottom lid 32 comprises a central panel of substantially the same sizeas the opening in the box and having opposed reentrant portions definedby the score lines 33, 34 and 35 which are substantially equal in width,nevertheless in the manual operation of positioning the lid it isimpossible to obtain a uniform package because of the impossibility ofimpressing upon operators the necessity for careful folding of the lidalong the defining score lines. Uniformity is essential because ofvarious regulations imposed by governmental authorities upon thedimensions of small containers for vegetables, fruits and simi-' larcommodities. It will be appreciated that a slight variance in thefolding may increase or decrease the dimensions beyond the varianceallowed to standard containers. In my closing -mach ine the continuous,progressive operationof the members MI, 4! and 42 insure uniformity offolding and uniformity of final dimensions.

A further advantage relates to the utility and function of the bottomclosing lid. The reentrant lid acts as a spacer to lift the contentsabove the bottom edge of the box. In commodities of large size which arepacked by count rather than by weight or volume it will be appreciatedthat variations in size are encountered. The articles are intended to beheld in close contact with the top panel 35 regardless of the positionof the box. In order to accommodate slight variations the bend formed atthe score line 63 is intended to be less than 180", so that a certaindegree of rigid resiliency will be imparted to the bottom lid. In manualoperation it has been found that the score line 33, and similarly thescore line 34, are broken beyond the point where resiliency will bepreserved. By the use of a member, such as M, an absolute degree of bendis imparted to this part of the lid and the desired advantages will befound to result.

A further feature of my invention whereby the peculiar advantages of theparticular type of box is utilized, lies in means whereby the top panelof the box may be allowed or forced to bulge in order that the contentswill be firmly yet resiliently retained between the top and bottompanels. It will be noted from an inspection of Figs. 4-7 inclusive, thatthe top panel normally lies in a single plane and that preferably it iscaused to bulge slightly outwardly. The dimensions of the box are suchthat with the average sized large fruit or vegetable, or with a standardbulk of smaller commodities, such as one quart of berries, the distancebetween the normal position of the top panel and the normal position ofthe bottom panel will not be quite suficient. The conveyor is formedwith longitudinal and transverse raised portions 52, forming central,rectangular depressions, each of which is designed to accommodate thecentral portion of the top panel of a box. These raised portionsunderlie the side walls of the box and prevent downward movementthereof. However, the downward forcing action of the members ll and 42will cause the central portion of the panel to be displaced and toclosely contact the depressed surface of the belt. In this way there isformed a bulged top panel resiliently held by the reentrant bottom panelpressing on the enclosed commodity.

At the next forward step of the conveyor I I the box is fastened inclosed position by the following mechanism comprising one embodiment ofmeans for fastening the box. The Geneva drive member 24 is formed with agroove 45 within Which is positioned a follower roll it fixed to a slide41 suitably guided for vertical movement in an extension of standard 23.Mounted on the upper end of slide 4'! is a stapling head 48 having aplunger 49 and an anvil 59 on opposite sides of a work receiving throat55. A suitable magazine 52 is positioned on the head Q8 and is providedwith any standard form of staple feeding mechanism designed to feedstaples into alignment with the plunger is and anvil 58. The anvil 55 isso positioned and designed as to closely contact the inner side of theend flap of the lid 32 and the plunger 33 is adapted to drive a staplethrough the wall 3i and lid 32 and clinch it against the anvil, thusfastening the bottom lid in place. The groove 45 is so designed andrelated to the pin 25 that the slide 41 and stapling head 38 will beraised to the dotted line position, of Fig. 4 during the movement of theconveyor l l and will be lowered, momentarily held stationary atoperative position, and raised during the time that the conveyor is atrest. To operate the stapling plunger 49 during the period of time thatthe stapling head is at its lowermost position there is provided a camwheel 55 fixed to shaft 22 and provided with a groove 56. Pivoted tostandard 23 at 57 is a rocking lever 58 having a follower roll :39positioned in groove 56 and having a hammer Ell at its free end. Thehammer 6G is normally in inoperative position, shown in dotted line inFig. 4, but during the time that the stapling head is momentarily heldin operative lowermost position the lever 58 is rocked to force thehammer 60 against the plunger 49 to drive a staple. A spring 6i may beprovided to return the plunger to its inoperative position. It will beappreciated that the foregoing is simply one form of stapling mechanismand that other forms may operate just as well provided that theforegoing sequence of operation is observed. Likewise, the stapling head%8 may be so designed as to have a plurality of plungers, anvils andmagazines so that each box will have several closing staples.

It will be apparent that the stapling head is lowered into thedepression formed by the raised bottom lid during the time that theconveyor is at rest, the stapling will take place, and the stapling headwill immediately be raised to inoperative position before the conveyorbegins to move.

The foregoing is a simple and preferred form of mechanism for carryingout the purposes of my invention but it will be appreciated thatmodifications and alterations may be devised which are within the scopeof my invention and I do not intend to be limited except by thefollowing claims which are to be broadly construed.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for closing a bottom-loading box of a type having areentrant bottom lid, comprising a belt adapted to progress the box andmeans positioned adjacent thereto to fold said bottom lid into position,said belt having a central depression into which the top panel of thebox may be forced by said folding means transmitting pressure throughthe enclosed contents.

2. In an apparatus for closing a box of the type adapted to have onepanel bulged outwardly and resiliently retained in bulged position bythe enclosed contents and the opposite panel, a belt having centraldepressions formed therein adapted to allow outward bulging of the paneladjacent thereto.

3. Closing apparatus for boxes and the like comprising spaced guides, aconveyor to carry a box between said guides, a closing bar extendingdiagonally across the conveyor, means forming an inverted U shapedchannel located adjacent each of said guides and positioned to operateon said box after its passage past the closing bar, the workingcross-sectional area of said channel constantly decreasing from the endadjacent said closing bar whereby to exert a constantly increasingpressure on said box to complete the closing operation.

4. Apparatus for closing boxes and the like comprising spaced guides, aconveyor positioned between said guides adapted to guide a boxtherethrough, folding means comprising a member positioned across saidguides and substantially parallel to and spaced from the plane of saidconveyor, said member being setat an acute angle to the direction oftravel of said conveyor, and secondary closing means comprising a membercooperating with each of said guides and positioned at an angle theretoto provide a channel whose working cross-sectional area decreases fromthe entrance to the exit end of said channel.

5. Apparatus for closing a box comprising spaced guides, a conveyor forcarrying a box between said guides, means toclose said box comprisingfolding member positioned acrotssi said guides and set at an angle tothe direction of travel of said conveyor, secondary folding meanspositioned to operate on the closure of the box after the passage of thebox past the first mentioned folding member comprising a strip securedto each of said guides and presenting therewith channels havingconstantly decreasing cross-sectional areas.

6. Closing apparatus for boxes and the like comprising spaced guides, aconveyor to carry a box between said guides, a closing bar extending atan angle across the conveyor, means forming plete the closing operation.

7. Closing apparatus for boxes and the like comprising spaced guides, aconveyor to carry a box between said guides, closure folding means forpartially closing the closure of a box carried 'on said conveyor, meansforming an inverted U shaped channel located adjacent at least one ofsaid guides and positioned to operate on said box after its passage pastthe closure folding means, the working cross-sectional area of saidchannel constantly decreasing from the end adjacent said closurefoldingmeans whereby to exert a constantly increasing pressure on saidbox to complete the closing operation.

' HENRY KONDOLF.

